{"id":2131,"date":"2017-02-02T23:01:57","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T05:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/?p=2131"},"modified":"2017-02-02T23:01:57","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T05:01:57","slug":"getting-back-into-the-writing-groove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/getting-back-into-the-writing-groove\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting back into the writing groove!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by Haley Schabes<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After such a long and wonderful winter break, everyone is a little rusty with the whole school thing. You show up for classes and suddenly all the assignments start flowing in: papers, projects, labs, reading, you name it. Trying to get back into the writing groove and tackling these assignments can be tough, but here are a couple of tips to make the transition from break a little easier. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Plan ahead<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As soon as a writing assignment comes in, put it in a calendar! It can be an electronic one or a printed planner. Whatever works for you! Make it more fun by color coordinating classes or assignments. <\/span><b>Staying organized makes all the difference!<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you are consistent and do this for all your classes, it will help you prioritize your long-term writing assignments and plan ahead. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>One day at a time<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coming into the semester can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you have clubs or athletics on top of a full semester. Take a deep breath and take one day at a time.<\/span><b> Make it a routine <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by setting aside specific periods of time each day<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">put reminders on your electronic calendar and don\u2019t make excuses! <\/span><b>Setting daily goals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also helps you stay on track and prevents you from falling behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Know how you work best<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I like to reward myself during a work session with a hot cup of tea and some relaxing music. It just gets me in the <\/span><b>mood to write productively<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. I tend to be more productive in the mornings, too, so I try to schedule my working times in the later morning before lunch. Find out what helps you get motivated and you\u2019ll find that you don\u2019t dread completing assignments. Preparing your mind beforehand and hiding your electronics also assists in<\/span><b> preventing distractions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> while writing. Complete tasks like sending emails beforehand so they don\u2019t pull your focus away later. And don\u2019t be afraid to <\/span><b>take breaks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; sometimes your mind will sort out what you\u2019re stuck on when you change gears.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Don\u2019t worry about perfection<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes time to sit down and start writing a paper, don\u2019t get caught up on all the little details from the start. Take time to <\/span><b>brainstorm and research<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and find a topic that truly intrigues you. If you\u2019re interested, then it will be easier to keep writing. Once you actually start writing, <\/span><b>keep going and don\u2019t look back. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try writing for 30 minutes, or for a full page, or whatever amount works for you. Free writing helps with getting ideas flowing, and you can always go back and revise what you wrote. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Use your resources<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have a plethora of resources to draw on when tackling a writing assignment. Your <\/span><b>teacher<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s can help answer any clarifying questions you have, and using your <\/span><b>classmates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to discuss the assignment can be very advantageous. Be careful not to rely on your classmates <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">too<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> much; you want to be able to make this paper strongly individual. Last, but definitely not least, you have the <\/span><b>writing tutors!<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> We are here to be sounding boards and <\/span><b>support you in any part of your writing process<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from brainstorming to revising. So don\u2019t hesitate to stop by.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happy writing!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haley Schabes is a senior majoring in business administration and minoring in education, economics, and Asian studies. Her current aspiration is to teach English abroad after college.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Haley Schabes After such a long and wonderful winter break, everyone is a little rusty with the whole school thing. You [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5DI6r-yn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2131"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2135,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions\/2135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}